Jake would use his Shaltari, enigmatic aliens with a Protoss/Eldar/Native American vibe going on.
Jake's Shaltari were roughly broken up into 4 battlegroups
Group 1: HQ Walker and Support Walker (Coyote and Jaguar?)
Group 2: 2 x Caiman Hvy Grav tanks + Firedrake
Group 3: 3 x Tomahawk grav tanks + 3 Kukri AA grav Tanks
Group 4: 2 x 2 Infantry stands, grav transports and Support Walker (Dreamsnare?)
Jake was Anti-Armor heavy and Infantry light. He was coming for a firefight.
Roughly 1250 points
I would field my Resistance.
I would field 5 Battlegroups
Group 1: HQ Alexander Heavy Tank + Cyclone attack helicopter
Group 2: 2 x Hannibal main battle tanks + 2 Zukov AA Tanks + 2 Lifthawks
Group 3: 3 x Gun Trucks (AA) + Transport Hovercraft
Group 4: 3 x 2 stand squads of Resistance Fighters + 3 halftracks + Lifthawk + Marine Force Recon + Raven transport.
Group 5: Hellhog Attack aircraft
I had a good mix of infantry, armor and air. I was very excited to play with my brand new Hellhog. one of my favorite Resistance models.
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| I love this guy |
The battlefield was a 4 x 5 table full of cardboard buildings.
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| The Battlefield - Red markers are objective |
The mission was Search and find objectives. 5 objectives were spread out on the table. Victory is dependent on finding and extracting objectives. Getting an objective off the board is worth 2 Victory points, holding an objective on table at the end of the game is worth 1 Victory point. If players tie in points then you calculate Kill points. The game lasts for 6 turns.
Dropzone Commander uses an alternating activation game turn, so players take turns activating battle groups and moving and shooting them in turn. It keeps players more active in the game as you don't have to wait for the other player to move his ENTIRE Army and then shoot with his ENTIRE army before you can do anything.
It also gives the players a lot more tactical options. Do I move my Infantry Battle Group first or wait and allow the other player to attack it first?
Turn 1:
We rolled for initiative, with the wily Shaltari commander winning initiative.
Jake kept most of his force off table the first turn with only his Kukri AA Grav tanks deploying.
I failed to get my HellHog out of Reserves but did unload my Zukov AA tanks and Hannibal heavy tanks in nice positions and dump a squad of infantry into the large building closest to me. My Marine force recon also pushed forward, swooping around the left flank to a distant objective.
I did put 6 points of damage on a building containing on objective on the far side of the table.
No losses. Score 0-0
Turn 2
This turn would start to see some fireworks. The Shaltari started to burst forth from their gates. Jake fired everything he had at my Zuikov AA Tanks but only managed to score a single point of damage on 1 (They can take 2 max) In return they rolled forward and scored a hit on the Firedrake, hitting it for 4 points of damage.
Jake dumped troops into the closest objective building on his table. I direct fired into the building, With exceptional falling Masonry I managed to kill two of his hardy troops.
Kukri AA Grav Tanks shoot up a Dropship, scoring 3 damage but are unable to seal the deal.
On my end I dumped my second squad into another objective building and the Marine Force Recon entered a third, on my far left. The First squad failed it's search for the objective.
Losses: 2 Shaltari Infantry Score 0-0
Turn 3:
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| Try as I might, that damn building keeps evading my shots. |
This is how my turn started...
The mighty Alexander Heavy tank swung it's 220mm Annihilator cannon at the objective building just teaming with Shaltari troops... and misses... the building...
It didn't get much better.
After seeing what a single hit could do to his fliers Jake understandably concentrates on my Zuikovs. It takes his whole army but he does finally kill both.
I concentrate most of my fire on the damaged building but only manage a few hits, falling masonry kills another infantry. He's down by half, only three guys left.
No infantry anywhere finds objectives on either side.
Losses: 2 x Zuikov AA Tanks, 3 x shaltari Infantry
Score 0-0
Turn 4:
This turn begins well for me. the MFR prove why the get the big bucks and find an objective, mount up in their Raven Dropship and head out of the combat zone.
My Guntrucks also disembark and take out the giant Firedrake, causing the last point of damage. Shaltari retribution is immediate with Grav tanks easily dispatching my Gun Trucks.
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| MFR finds an objective! |
My Hellhog finally makes it out of reserves and makes a spectacular run on a Shaltari War walker and fails spectacularly.
Lastly our tanks snipe at one another, the Hannibals killing one Tomahawk while a Hannibal takes a damage point in return.
Losses:
Resistance: 2 x Zuikov AA Tanks, 3 x Gun Trucks
Shaltari: 4 x Infantry, 1 x Fire Drake, 1 x Tomahawk
Points 1-0 Resistance.
Turn 5:
Finally objectives are found. Both Resistance squads find their objectives and two Shaltari squads also find theirs.
Sadly the last members of the Shaltari squad are killed by falling masonry. Though the building still stands. The other squad begins to exfile off the table.
For the Resistance one squad mounts up into it's transport and their nearby lifthawk makes for the table edge, the other platoon, too far away from the Lifthawk start driving towards the table edge.
Turn 6
Last turn
Shaltari go after my Command tank but it weathers all the fire without damage.
I have to say, I love this tank... I need more of them.
Last turn
Shaltari go after my Command tank but it weathers all the fire without damage.
I have to say, I love this tank... I need more of them.
Jake also manages to get his Objective off the table, scoring two points in the process but there is not chance of him finding or getting to any other objectives on the table.
He also snipes a retreating Resistance Halftrack carrying an objective, the Infantry inside are safe and leave the smoking wreck of their transport for the safety of a nearby building.
For me I manage to get the Lifthawk carrying an objective off the table but cause no further damage to the Shaltari.
Final Score 5-2
Resistance Losses 2 x Zuikov AA Tanks, 3 x Gun Trucks, 2 x Hannibal Heavy Tanks, 1 Halftrack
Shaltari losses: 6 x Infantry, 1 x Fire Drake, 1 x Tomahawk
Wrap-up
This was a fun game but the Shaltari were hindered from the get go with only two squads of Infantry. Meaning at best he could only search for two objectives at a time. With 4 Infantry squads the Resistance was able to search for 4 at a time.
Jake's Shaltari totally slaughtered my combat units, concentrating on them to the exclusion of almost everything else. In hindsight he will be adding a couple of additional Infantry squads to his list. Jake also felt he was a little to static and didn't take advantage of the maneuverability of his force.
Overall a great game!
He also snipes a retreating Resistance Halftrack carrying an objective, the Infantry inside are safe and leave the smoking wreck of their transport for the safety of a nearby building.
For me I manage to get the Lifthawk carrying an objective off the table but cause no further damage to the Shaltari.
Final Score 5-2
Resistance Losses 2 x Zuikov AA Tanks, 3 x Gun Trucks, 2 x Hannibal Heavy Tanks, 1 Halftrack
Shaltari losses: 6 x Infantry, 1 x Fire Drake, 1 x Tomahawk
Wrap-up
This was a fun game but the Shaltari were hindered from the get go with only two squads of Infantry. Meaning at best he could only search for two objectives at a time. With 4 Infantry squads the Resistance was able to search for 4 at a time.
Jake's Shaltari totally slaughtered my combat units, concentrating on them to the exclusion of almost everything else. In hindsight he will be adding a couple of additional Infantry squads to his list. Jake also felt he was a little to static and didn't take advantage of the maneuverability of his force.
Overall a great game!
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